Make Meetings Productive

Here’s some creative thinking—why don’t we make meetings productive?  How many times have you had that thought as you sat through a meeting, reflecting on how you could be better using your time?

But what have you done about it?  Have you taken any action to make meetings more productive or taught your staff how to make them count?

If you already come to every meeting with an agenda, a clear purpose, a current and future action plan that ends with a list of specific accountabilities, you’re doing well!  But how often does that really happen?  And are you teaching your staff to make meetings productive?  Do you require them to provide and/or at least think through these items?

It’s easy to call a meeting or attend a recurring meeting just because that’s what we do.  It’s easier to accept the status quo.  But if we really want our organizations and our staff to grow and move forward, we’ve got to make changes to our nonproductive time!  In addition, who wouldn’t rather be doing things they’d like or need as opposed to wasting time in a pointless meeting?

Rethink your regularly scheduled meetings.  Do they really need to happen?  Do they need to be changed in some way to become more meaningful? Do you vary the meeting leadership to at least give others a chance to learn or provide a new perspective?  Does everyone invited really need to be there?

Meetings in business are a way of life and can be great tools for brainstorming, solving issues, learning from mistakes and/or coming to a consensus, but they can also take on their own lives and lose meaning.

Rethink when and how your meetings are held.  Do they need to happen? Do they need to change? Are we clear on their purpose? Reevaluating may free up some time or at least repurpose time utilized to accomplish tasks. 

Set up a meeting with yourself to think about it!

#meetings #productivity #positivity #management #hrconsultant

At least there's typically a window to look out--but wouldn't it be great if all meetings were productive!